Tag: new release

Samantha Hasting is a woman sick of living in a rut. Her whole life revolves around her work and her best friends. Wanting to meet new people—including a man who makes her heart beat faster—she signs up for online dating.As Sam embarks on her dating adventures, her best friend—and friend with benefits—Levi is her constant, a shoulder to cry on and buddy to laugh with. It’s only after she meets and starts dating Jack that she realizes maybe Levi means more to her than she’d thought. Maybe the man who makes her heart beat faster was right there all along.

Veronica, a self confessed girly-girl, often finds herself labelled a bimbo—and just doesn’t care. An ex-economist turned handyperson, Vee is not afraid to be female, period. So what if it happens to be in a male-dominated industry?

When Vee threatens a client with a hammer to ward off his wandering hands, she finds herself at the local police station facing charges of assault. There she meets Detective Cole Samuels, and the sparks thrown off by their mutual animosity are combustive. They quickly become involved in a hot and heavy relationship, leaping one hurdle after another. Things finally seem to be working out when Vee’s workplace is vandalized, a message left… and suddenly, that crank call and the near-miss with the crazy driver don’t seem to be harmless incidents anymore. Vee’s stalker rapidly escalates in violence, leaving Cole determined to find him before Vee gets hurt….

Social misfit Jessamy James pays the bills with a cleaning job so she can do what she really loves—tell stories to children. When she meets NFL superstar Nathan Powell while scrubbing unknown substances from his kitchen floor, Jess is as wary as she is confused. Never has she met a man with so much trust in the world, and he’s never met anyone he couldn’t charm. Outwardly, they’re complete opposites, but Nathan is intrigued by Jess’s reclusive attitude, and she’s drawn to his open personality. The attraction between them is inevitable.

When Nathan is dragged into a drug scandal, Jess is caught up in the media storm and finds her own vocation slipping through her fingers. As they struggle to clear his name and rescue both their careers, Jess and Nathan discover that sometimes all you can do is wish upon a shooting star.

What happens when the rules and the heart conflict? In Mary Billiter’s witty novel of rule breaking and delectable romance, a red-hot suit and a beautiful computer geek are linked by heartbreaking loss and a passion certain to set fire to your pages.

From parking space to cyberspace, Waterfront Point hotel valet Carmen Gonzalez uncovers computer espionage at her own workplace. The independent, computer-whiz Carmen decides that the best way to fight the system is to hack it.

But when Hank Hughes arrives from the Oregon Coast to the Pacific Coast to take care of family business and avenge an injustice, Carmen’s “act first, think later” approach is called into question. Carmen soon realizes you can’t follow the rules and follow your heart, so one has to be broken.

Ohhhhhhh. Damn.

Bryce ran and grabbed the suitcase I’d dropped. “I’ll take care of the bags.”

I barely nodded.

Hank stepped toward me. “I was hoping to run into you today.”

I stared into the greenish-brown eyes that swirled together like his brother’s, but instead of spinning me for a loop, they bored into my heart. Hard.

“Carmen?”

I heard Hank, but I couldn’t respond. I’m falling for a giant.

He gently touched my shoulder with a massive hand. “You okay?”

“No one’s ever done that.” Suddenly I felt like a young girl. I wrapped my arms around him—or what I could of his waist. “You’re my hero.”

He tipped my chin toward him, looked longingly into my eyes, lowered his head, and softly kissed me. His lips melded into mine, his heart beat against me, and my body responded, pressing into him with a mixture of tenderness and desire that had no beginning and no end.

“Gonzalez!”

Nothing like hearing my surname bellowed across the front drive to completely kill a romantic moment. Time of death, 12:35 p.m.

I pulled away from Hank, but not before staring into his eyes. “I don’t want you to vanish again.” I finally let my heart and not my head speak. “I don’t want you to leave.”

A devil-may-care grin crossed his face. “Now, who said anything about goodbye?”

Mary Billiter is a weekly newspaper columnist and fiction author. She also has novels published under the pen name, “Pumpkin Spice.”Mary resides in the Cowboy State with her unabashedly bald husband, her four amazing children, two fantastic step-kids, and their runaway dog. She does her best writing (in her head) on her daily runs in wild, romantic, beautiful Wyoming.

When mistaken identity leads a young botanist into trouble, Navy SEALs come to the rescue.Aled Demers prefers plants over people. He survives an attack in Anguilla alive but emotionally and physically scarred. Back home in Cardiff, he struggles with PTSD and his unraveling life.

Wyatt “Earp” Hardy lives for his SEAL brothers. Retiring from military service brings new challenges for him to face. The last thing he expects is for his next mission to involve falling for the much younger botanist.

If the botanist has the strength to heal, can Wyatt find the courage to love?

The short story The Botanist is book three in Dahlia Donovan’s international bestselling gay romance series, The Sin Bin. Each one features hot rugby players and the men who steal their hearts.

by Dahlia Donovan

As the release date to The Botanist approaches, I thought I’d share a bit about the two main characters. I fell in love with both of them and hope you do the same.

Wyatt

1. He’s a hero.

2. Hilariously funny.

3. Incredibly hot.

4. A Navy SEAL. Who doesn’t love a SEAL?

5. Genuinely cares about helping others.

Aled

1. Great hair. He’s got better hair than I do.

2. Plants. More plants. All the plants. He talks to them and treats them like his pets.

From Romantic Suspense BEST-SELLING Author: What happens when a man is called to protect the woman who captured then crushed his heart? In Sheila Kell’s story of danger and second chances, two people are connected by a painful past and a love that is threatened.

Eight years earlier, Matt Hamilton gave away his heart only to have that love snatched away. When called in to protect Caitlyn Robinson, the damaged woman from his past, he’s prepared to risk everything to make sure she’s kept safe.

By the time his team is in place, Matt discovers Caitlyn hasn’t truly recovered from the event that previously destroyed them. He’s determined to be the one to save not only her life, but her heart. Possibility drives him forward, but first, he must catch the bastard chasing her.

***

HIS HEART is the seventh book in the HIS romantic suspense series. If you like thrilling, edge of your seat reading with sizzling sex scenes, then you’ll love each installment of Sheila Kell’s best-selling series.

Praise for Sheila Kell

“Wow! Can Ms. Kell tell a great story.” – InD’tale Magazine

“One thing is for sure, Sheila Kell has solidly landed herself on my One-Click-Addiction List with this group.” – BookwormBetties

“Sheila Kell is a great author. She writes a great story with fantastic characters that draw you in and make you feel for the characters and what they are going through.” – Steamy Book Momma

Hardworking Australian nurse Ben Adams inherits a substantial sum and decides to tour Europe. In Monaco, the home of glamour and the idle rich, he meets French billionaire playboy Léo Artois. After getting off on the wrong foot—as happens when one accuses a stranger of being part of the Albanian mafia—their attraction blazes. Léo, born to the top tier of society, has never known limits, and Ben, used to budgeting every cent, finds it difficult to adjust to not only Léo’s world, but also the changes wealth brings to his own life.

As they make allowances for each other’s foibles, Ben gradually appreciates the finer things, and Léo widens his perspective. They both know one thing: this is not a typical holiday romance, and they’re not ready to say goodbye.

Louisa Masters started reading romance much earlier than her mother thought she should. While other teenagers were sneaking out of the house, Louisa was sneaking romance novels in and working out how to read them without being discovered. She’s spent most of her life feeling sorry for people who don’t read, convinced that books are the solution to every problem. As an adult, she feeds her addiction in every spare second, only occasionally tearing herself away to do things like answer the phone and pay bills. She spent years trying to build a “sensible” career, working in bookstores, recruitment, resource management, administration, and as a travel agent, before finally conceding defeat and devoting herself to the world of romance novels.

Louisa has a long list of places first discovered in books that she wants to visit, and every so often she overcomes her loathing of jet lag and takes a trip that charges her imagination. She lives in Melbourne, Australia, where she whines about the weather for most of the year while secretly admitting she’ll probably never move.

Nurse Freddie Whittle devotes every fibre of his being to his work with cancer patients. Their pain weighs heavily on his shoulders. Between losing clients, the expectations of his fathers, and bigot neighbours, he’s slowly reaching his breaking point.

Taine Afoa retires from a storied career as an international rugby star. He’s moved away from London for a change of pace, never expecting to meet a man who’s far too young for him. No matter how hard he tries, it’s impossible to get Freddie out of his mind.

Will Taine’s resistance dissolve in time for him to give love the chance to flourish?

Most of my characters have favourite curse words. Freddie, from The Caretaker, he tends to swear in Welsh, which amuses me to no end. He loves the rare and often eccentric meaning behind them (and so do I.) Here are five of his personal favourites along with their translations:

Dahlia Donovan wrote her first romance series after a crazy dream about shifters and damsels in distress. She prefers irreverent humour and unconventional characters. An autistic and occasional hermit, her life wouldn’t be complete without her husband and her massive collection of books and video games.

Sometimes to escape a bad situation, you have to grit your teeth and bare your clause.

When competing hotel owners, the Carlyles, attempt a takeover of the former Brubaker hotel, now The Point Resort and also Kelsey Donigan’s second home, the front desk manager discovers long buried secrets between the two families. Better yet, she uncovers an escape clause that not only prevents a takeover, but may also overtake generations of animosity between the two families.

Kelsey finds an ally in the most unlikely of locals. Hotel heir Oliver Carlyle’s devotion and determination to honor his mother’s final wishes places him in direct opposition with his powerful family.

Can the star-crossed couple save the historic, beachfront hotel or will they lose each other in the process?

In May 2016, I was recovering from my second major surgery in the treatment of my breast cancer. My husband, Ron brought my children to the hospital each day of my recovery. At night he’d return. He wanted to ensure that if I ever woke I wouldn’t be alone.

My spirits were fading with each surgery. Ron knew and arrived one evening with a Starbucks coffee and his cell phone.

He scrolled through pictures of his beloved Oregon coast –and specifically Newport.

“We’ll go there.” He spoke in terms of a future I wasn’t as convinced existed.

Still, when visiting hours ended, I’d be alone in my hospital room with my thoughts. I turned them to the Oregon Coast. I dreamt about rushing toward the ocean with my arms outstretched like I could catch the white-capped waves. That dream got me through myriad lonely nights at the hospital.

So when my husband of three years brought my little boy and me to the coast with his Oregon-based family it was better than anything I had imagined. The Oregon coast was a respite and renewal.

We toured Yaquina Head lighthouse and I knew then that it was where romance began and ended. As we drove away from our week-long vacation, I began writing this story.

I returned home where I failed another mammogram and endured more painful procedures. But the Oregon Coast had revived my spirits.

And by December, I was victorious in my battle against breast cancer. It gave my family the happily ever after we long sought.

So “Escape Clause” is for every breast cancer survivor and those still in the fight. Don’t give up. The best is yet to come.

Mary Billiter is a weekly newspaper columnist and fiction author. She also has novels published under the pen name, “Pumpkin Spice.”

Mary resides in the Cowboy State with her unabashedly bald husband, her four amazing children, two fantastic step-kids, and their runaway dog. She does her best writing (in her head) on her daily runs in wild, romantic, beautiful Wyoming.

They met at a wedding, Todd the only man wearing jeans, Jessica the beauty with a troubled background. Settled into married life after falling in love, they have so many things left to do in life. They think they have so much time… until Jessica and Todd’s average married life comes to a halt on a snowy back road. When their truck careens down an embankment, they find themselves in a life-or-death situation. With rescue seeming impossible, they cling to the only hope they have left: their love for each other.

As they fight for survival, their connection carries them through the biggest challenge of their lives. Memories and regrets swirl around the couple as they finally take a moment to reflect on what they’re doing in life.

There’s one big, icy question that haunts them, though: Is this where their story will end?

Together, they were a functioning but crazy couple, living in the adult world of responsibility but straying from the normal every now and then to experience life to the fullest.

Together, they could get through anything. She had to cling to that.

She perked up at the thought of having some temporary relief from the cold as Todd wriggled to get closer to the driver seat, being careful to not jiggle his leg too much. He reached over to the keys, turning it with a whispered “Please.”

Nothing happened.

“Shit.” He slammed the dashboard in frustration. His temper was always one of his flaws.

“Let me try,” she uttered, reaching for the key in his hand.

“It’s not working.”

“Move.”

She shoved him away, trying the key herself, whispering “Please.” If her toes weren’t so damn cold, she’d cross them all in hopes of the engine coming to life.

She turned the key and laughed at her luck. The engine chugged to life.

“Wrong again,” she gloated, a huge grin on her face.

“You know, I should push you out in the snow.”

The smile stifled itself at his words, even as the sound of the engine underscored her hope, emphasized the soon-to-be warmth that would be theirs.

She didn’t respond to his statement, lost in her own bout of regrets and guilt.

“Jess?” he asked finally, concern in his voice.

She warmed her hands in front of the heater. It already felt heavenly, even though it wasn’t even close to being completely warm. Finally, she responded in a disconsolate voice, “Probably should. This is my fault.”

“Hey, stop it. Don’t blame yourself.” He put a hand on her arm, shaking her a bit.

“If I’d listened….”

“We might still have ended up here, or worse. Things could be worse. We could’ve hit a tree head-on. By some luck, we landed right between them. It’s all okay. It’s all going to work out.” He, too, rubbed his hands in front of the heater.

“I love you,” she whispered, still feeling guilty, still not quite believing him. This was her fault. She’d messed up, big-time. Who knew what price they’d pay for it.

“I love you too.”

She smiled again, leaning against him as she basked in the warmth of the heat radiating through her fingers. They sat, wordless, reveling in the simple but heavenly feeling.

Todd interrupted the silence a few moments later. “You do know, when we get out of this, I’m never letting you live this down.”

She groaned, shaking her head as she pulled away from him. “You just said it’s not my fault.”

“Of course I did. Because right now, I can’t blame you or I look like a dick. Later, though, oh man, is this going to be a great addition to my amateur comedic stand-up at parties.”

A high school English teacher, an author, and a fan of anything pink and/or glittery, Lindsay’s the English teacher cliché; she love cats, reading, Shakespeare, and Poe.

She currently lives in her hometown with her husband, Chad (her junior high sweetheart); their cats, Arya, Amelia, Alice, and Bob; and their Mastiff, Henry.

Lindsay’s goal with her writing is to show the power of love and the beauty of life while also instilling a true sense of realism in her work. Some reviewers have noted that her books are not the “typical romance.” With her novels coming from a place of honesty, Lindsay examines the difficult questions, looks at the tough emotions, and paints the pictures that are sometimes difficult to look at. She wants her fiction to resonate with readers as realistic, poetic, and powerful. Lindsay wants women readers to be able to say, “I see myself in that novel.” She wants to speak to the modern woman’s experience while also bringing a twist of something new and exciting. Her aim is for readers to say, “That could happen,” or “I feel like the characters are real.” That’s how she knows she’s done her job.

Lindsay’s hope is that by becoming a published author, she can inspire some of her students and other aspiring writers to pursue their own passions. She wants them to see that any dream can be attained and publishing a novel isn’t out of the realm of possibility.